Carfi's lawyer immediately deemed the firing illegal and said Carfi would exhaust all remedies ``to get his good name back.'' The firing comes after a contentious seven months at the 325-unit complex.

Since March, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's office has been looking into complaints from a group of unit owners about alleged retaliatory fines, a lack of maintenance and possible collusion between the former board members and Carfi. Blumenthal has yet to take action.

Carfi last month was arrested on charges that he conspired with his friend, Alana McKeon, to harass two residents. McKeon was accused of writing a message on a flier that singled out the two residents by name, questioned the sexual orientation of one of them, and offered a vulgar suggestion for the other.

McKeon, 22, was charged with harassment and breach of peace; Carfi, 43, was charged with conspiring to commit those offenses. The charges are pending in Superior Court in Middletown. Carfi and McKeon have pleaded not guilty.

Thursday night, over 100 unit owners voted to replace the board, installing five new members. A group of owners paid to have off-duty city police officers provide security during the meeting at the clubhouse and a locksmith changed the locks.

The board's new president, Nancy Handley, said she left a voice-mail message on Carfi's cellphone Thursday night informing him that he was fired. She told him he would soon be receiving a written notification and explanation by registered mail.

Handley said the board exercised its right to fire Carfi. She said the board would be considering bids from prospective property-management companies.

``This is a fresh start for Carriage Crossing,'' Handley said Friday. ``We will have communication back and forth with owners, and we'll be holding a meeting in a couple of weeks, after we review the financial records and all existing contracts.''

Carfi's lawyer, John Kennelly of Hartford, said the firing was ``unfortunate and disturbing it its process.''

``He was never advised by previous board members of any dissatisfaction with him. The new board fired him as its first official act without any due process, an obvious violation of Connecticut employment law. They summarily took away his right to earn a living, acting out of emotion and anger, and with no substantiation. That's not only wrong, it's illegal,'' Kennelly said.

Last spring, lawyer Patricia Ayars of Glastonbury, acting on behalf of several unit owners, sent to the previous board a long list of grievances about Carfi. The board hired a lawyer and one of the members said in a letter to residents that Carfi had the board's support.

In August, Carfi paid $500 fine to settle real-estate violations alleged by the state Department of Consumer Protection. Also in August, city building officials notified Carfi that several hundred thousand dollars of construction work was done at the complex without proper permits. As a result, the city has no record of the work and is owed several thousand dollars in fees.

Carfi and the former board had until late last month to correct mold problems outside a Carriage Crossing unit. No work was done and the city health department has referred the matter to the city attorney for enforcement action.

Blumenthal began investigating on the same day in March that three residents approached Mayor Domenique Thornton with complaints about Carfi. After the meeting, Thornton told the attorney general that she was troubled by what she heard.

``The most disconcerting thing for me is that the property manager is obtaining proxy votes, I think improperly, and can pack the board with members who don't question him. As a result, people who have complaints can't get a voice,'' Thornton said at the time.